Europe’s financial leader to discuss Greece crisis

Europe’s financial leaders are set to meet in Brussels to discuss additional help for Greece’s debt-hit economy.

Issues up for discussion include what conditions to apply to any more financial bail-outs for the country.

Some European leaders are unhappy at what they perceive as limited Greek efforts to raise money by selling government property.

The talks have been overshadowed by the arrest of IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had been due to attend, but was arrested Sunday in New York on suspicion of the sexual assault of a hotel maid.

“The leadership vacuum at the IMF comes at a highly inopportune time for Europe, which is teetering on the brink of a full-blown debt crisis,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor of international economics at Cornell University and a former IMF official.

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The gathering is also set to approve a 78bn euro (£68bn; $110bn) bail-out for Portugal, and to check the latest progress of the Irish Republic in dealing with its debt crisis.

Debt-strapped Greece was bailed out a year ago by the EU and IMF for €110bn. Since then it has imposed a series of financial cuts and austerity measures to try to balance its books.

The country has a 327bn euros debt pile, or nearly 150% of its economic output.
Germany provided a large chunk of the Greek bail-out cash and wants to see stringent conditions applied before backing any new aid.